Great Ninjago Rewrite: Pilot
by Aquillis
Summary: Canon Divergence that melds the plotlines of Seasons 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10 of Ninjago into the original season, and makes the plot more streamlined, as well as adding a bunch of characters into it, too.
1. Chapter 1

Long ago, the world of Ninjago was nothing. No land, no life existed. Then, a traveler from another world came to Ninjago, and with his power of Destruction and Creation created the land. With the power of Earth, he lifted the ground from the salty sea. With the power of Water, he created streams to produce Nature and the system of Nature. To prevent one species from overpowering the other, he used the Winds to create Lightning in the sky, and Poison and disease to help neuter any overpopulation problems. Finally, he introduced the concept of temperatures, allowing Death to come in after Life has expired—with Ice being cold and Fire harming anything that came in its way. Before he finished, he realized that Life required Emotion to thrive, and gave the budding Life the ability to decide their Fate. With that settled, he introduced the world the Golden and Silver Weapons he used to create Ninjago – The Scythe of Quakes, the Naginata of Tsunamis, the Tekko-Kagi of Toxins, the Hidden Sais of Tornadoes, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Shuriken's of Ice, and the Sword of Flames.

In the first years of life, the creator split off his power to the world, hoping that the powers wouldn't be used for evil. Then, the creator had two sons, the eldest being born with the power of Destruction, while the second son bearing the power of Creation. As soon as they were of age, he let the Master of the Dead claim him, allowing them to protect the land as they saw it.

However, the firstborn son was cursed from a vile, corruptive power—a bite from the Great Devourer, a snake that would not stop until everything was eaten. In the wake of his father's death, the Master of Destruction took the Silver Weapons – the destructive powers enhanced his own—and hoped to rule the world with them. His brother, the Master of Creation, fought back—with the Golden Weapons, and hoped to make him see his wrongs. When it became clear that his brother was being consumed by the venom in his body, the Master of Creation despairingly opened a Portal to the Land of Demons, hoping that, somehow, they would cure his brother from the poison in his veins.

In his grief, The Master of Creation took the Golden Weapons and hid them in their respective corners of the land, making sure to map out their locations in case he needed them again, knowing that his brother was not one to cower in another world when his kin betrayed him. The Master of Creation left the map of the Golden Weapons to an honest man, living a simple life near the hidden location of the last element created, in the hopes of one day finding the map with the next Master of Fire…

However, he never suspected that his brother had something up his sleeve, and foresaw the awakening of _three _Elemental Masters in that village, and made sure to take the two that he needed for his plan…

* * *

Ignacia, a village of soft winds and hot summer days, where people work in rice pools and use the elements of Wind, Fire and Water daily. It was a beautiful place, and the people would fight as well as they could as they have no protectors naturally. The village was near the mountain that housed the Fire Temple, an ancient tower that formed to protect a legendary treasure inside.

A few days before the Culture Festival – where the people celebrate their town and its growth, a time of celebrating the perfection in their lives. It was at this afternoon, that the first of three children were whisked away to adventure.

A young child no older than fifteen came up the bend to fetch a pail of water for the blacksmiths, the Four Weapons. She was a slight young girl, with traditional blue robes and black pants, carrying two buckets with her honey-tinted body. Her jade eyes shone with a sense of adventure and faint traces of love. She held in her arms a bamboo stick that carried two buckets of full water, giggling as she came up to the shop.

The Four Weapons shop was once known as the best blacksmiths in the kingdom – two legendary masters of the craft – a husband and wife – once lived in the shop, mending and creating things for all kinds of people – from the poorest to the richest, from simple farmers to even *_samurai_* - soldiers for the lords in richer cities. The shop had been kept in _relative_ good condition since the children of the original owners – Kai and Nya Hinata – took up the reins of their store. The chimney from the furnace dispelled smoke, meaning that the elder of the two was working on some new things to sell. It was one of her favourite things to watch — seeing the elder brother of the two children mess up again.

"To forge the perfect weapon…" the eldest, a teen who was half a year older than the girl outside the shop said, wearing a white t-shirt with his favourite red jeans under a blacksmith's apron muttered to himself, his brown hair spiked like the very flames he used. His amber eyes concentrated hard on the blade to be in the forge. "You need the right metal, and plenty of heat…" Using the tweezers, he pulled out the weapon from the forge into the cooling bucket, before immediately pulling it out—causing the metal to warp completely. "Pres—ah…" he sighed, seeing the mangled mess of a sword.

The girl outside the store giggled, before another girl joined in mocking the blacksmith. She was the younger of the two, wearing a simple red Chinese dress with an obi sash around her waist, and decorated with golden Phoenixes on her left side. Her light amber eyes alight with mirth, she stated, "You made it too quickly, Kai, be patient." She looked to the newcomer beside her, before smirking at her. "You know what father liked to say…"

"Yeah, yeah. 'No matter how much fire you have, experience isn't something you learn overnight'." The blacksmith – Kai – snorted. "That may work for _you_, Nya, but I'm gonna be a better blacksmith than dad." He confidently said, making the bucket girl to laugh harder.

"Please, Kai. You're killing me." The bucket girl set the water on the store counter top, her eyes alight with mischief as Kai retrieved the containers for his forging with a forced unamused look. "I like you, but it's obvious you aren't the one that's going to run the shop."

"Please, Kazeko. Have a little more faith in your favourite guy." The girl – Kazeko – rolled her eyes as he flexed his muscles to her. Neither of the three kids noticed the elderly man – wearing white gi under his large straw kasa, wielding a bamboo stick as his walking stick in hand. He hummed as he looked at the merchandise, before speaking outright.

"Hmm… Your metal is loud and heavy." The elderly man stated, causing the three to turn to him in surprise. "Useful to slow one down. Useless in the art of stealth. All the tools of a samurai," He then turned toward the three with mischief in his onyx eyes. "but nothing for a ninja?"

Kai scoffed at the comments. "Ninja, huh?" he then glowered at the old man, wondering who this bozo was and _why_ he decided to pick on _him_ and his stock. "You're a long way from finding any 'ninja', old man." Kai smirked, before noticing that the old man was just browsing in the shop. "And the shop is called 'Four Weapons', _not_ 'For Browsing'. Either _buy_ something or go pedal your insults _somewhere __**else**_!" He snarled at the browser, wondering if he should go and get the broom for this man.

"Hm… Too bad." The old man said, looking in Kai and Kazeko's direction. "Thought I'd find something special here." He said aloud, before looking at Nya carefully.

Nya gestured to Kai to show the old man the merchandise. Kai and Kazeko had turned away from the older man while searching for something that would satisfy the older man. "Well, I can show you—" As soon as Kai turned around, the man disappeared from the store, leaving the three teens confused as they turned to the spot where the old man was.

"Huh?" both Nya and Kazeko said dumbly, wondering if they saw a ghost.

"He was just… You know what, never mind." Kai sighed, going back to work in the furnace. "Thanks for the water, Mach. Nya," Kai turned to his sister, whom was coming up to the counter with new iron to work with. "Can you give Kimijuna here her payment?" He winked at Kazeko, who giggled at the affection.

"Yeah, yeah lover-boy. Suck it up to your water fetcher…" Nya sighed, but smirked at her brother's affection for the girl. She did as he asked, despite the bitterness she felt with Kazeko.

"It's alright, Junebug. You don't need to pay me." Kazeko said, trying to push the outstretched money back into Nya's hands.

"But I do, Mach. It's not fair that you haven't found a place to stay just yet." Kai said over the roar of the furnace. "Besides, it's better than not being able to eat." He whispered to himself.

"I still don't know why you haven't left this place, with how much you've wanted to explore the world, Kaze." Nya said, getting over the counter to pick up some more iron for Kai.

"Neither do I, honestly." Kazeko shrugged, sadly looking at Kai before leaving out of the shop with Nya. "I just feel… Better being with you guys, even if Kai and I are making goo-goo eyes in your presence." She giggled as Nya looked at her in scorn. "I really _do_ like it here. I just think that life's going to become more interesting if I hang around." She said softly, smiling softly. "Besides, _someone's_ gotta make sure that Kai doesn't end up getting the both of you evicted from your family home."

"Yeah, I do." Nya giggled, getting a look from Kai on her back.

It seemed like a picture-perfect day in the village of Ignacia. But, as with all things in the world, that peace wasn't meant to be.

The skies suddenly darkened, and the rattling of bones could be heard off in the distance. The rice-tenders looked to where the bone-rattling was, and found multiple skeletons riding on cars with skull and bone motifs all over the vehicles present. The roaring of the engines of each of the vehicles suddenly cut off, before revealing that literal _skeletons_ were the ones that were driving. One of the skeletons, with a metallic eyepatch over his right eye with blue loincloth and bracers, plus some bronze spikes on his skull like a mowhawk, eagerly jumped up and down in his seat, his visible red eye swirled with deranged madness.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna murder things! Can I murder things, please Samukai?" the eye-patched skeleton asked, before being thwacked in the head by another skeleton – wearing a monocle and hardhat instead, and brown linens and loincloths.

"You _dolt_, you don't _need_ to be so **hyper**! Samukai," the monocle-wearing skeleton turned to the tallest – and four-armed – skeleton behind on the vehicle. "What _are_ we doing, here? And can I drive?" He seemed more into the second question than the first.

"No boys. This is _mine_." The skeleton—Samukai—said, his smirk overpowering his underbite. "We're after _the map_. Our boss said it would be near two kunochi-to-be." Samukai looked as he said that, before zooming onto the Four Weapons shop in the distance. With a smirk, he commanded the attack, and the skeletons on the vehicles raced onward. Scaring some humans on the way to the Four Weapons shop, the skeletons screeched and hollered as they got closer, hoping to get the map _without_ much trouble.

While the skeletons got close, Kai, Kazeko and Nya looked out to see the travelling group of skeletons coming in their direction. Kai immediately ran back into the shop, getting out the best samurai armour they had from the mannequins.

"Kai, what _are_ those things?" Nya asked, looking to the dust cloud in the distance.

"Don't know, but stay here, just in case." Kai growled as he looked to the advancing cloud, wearing the samurai gear carefully. "Kazeko, take Nya and get outta here."

Kazeko nodded, grabbing Nya by the wrist and hauling the younger girl inside. Kai immediately fought off the skeletons that tried to go after the two, knocking their skulls off as he swung his blade. One of the bodiless skulls, noticing how close he was to Kai's red shoe, immediately bit into it.

"Argh!" Kai furiously screamed, before kicking the skull up to the sign, knocking it downward to reveal the map to Nya and Kazeko. "Bite that!" He yelled to the skull, about to fight more skeletons when he noticed that Nya and Kazeko had taken care of the two skeletons he was going to fight. "Nya, Mach! I told you to stay _back_!" Kai yelled at the two, slicing through the skeletons in his path.

"And what? Miss out on the fun?" Nya smirked, smacking a few skeletons in the exchange.

"Aww, come _on_ Yosei! I wouldn't _survive_ if I didn't know your condition!" Kaseko said, kicking a few skeletons in the back as well.

While the three were fighting the skeletons in the front, the two larger skeletons maneuvered through the fight to the back of the Four Weapons shop, before noticing a piece of paper on the back of the sign.

"Kruncha! Look! The map to the Golden Weapons!" the eye-patched skeleton said, grabbing the paper as well as a sword off to the side of one of the mannequins. "We've got this, now, let's kill things!"

"Nuckal! We _aren't_ here to _kill_!" Kruncha thwacked Nuckal's head, before picking up an axe from the floor. "We're here _for_ the **map**! And," He looked outside the shop, to find the siblings and Kazeko about to finish off the last of the skulkin soldiers soon. "to grab some _potential_ students for the Lord…" He finished, returning to the fight with Nuckal tailing behind him.

Kai and Nya ended up finishing the last skeleton together. Panting from the exertion all three had with the fight, they prepared themselves to start fighting the leader of the skeletons when Samukai launched himself in the middle, bringing up his four swords with a cruel smirk.

"_Oh, great Dragoness._" All three had thought as they saw the skeleton pull out the swords. Immediately, they tried to swarm him on all sides, only to be thrown off by Samukai's attack. Immediately, they all fell to the ground, Kai's sword flying out of his hands, while Nya's and Kazeko's own daggers flew off as well. They tried to get back up, to continue fighting against the tall and monstrous being, before a golden tornado suddenly intercepts them and the hulking brute, taking it head on!

"NINJA-_GO_!" the tornado yelled, sounding _exactly_ like the old man from earlier. The tornado kept up a pretty good fight, though it seemed like he was losing to the monster of a skeleton to the trio. Immediately, they grabbed their lost weapons to fight with once again.

"Wu! I _knew_ you'd be here… You're quite rusty with your Spinjitsu!" The leader stated, pushing the tornado back from him.

"Nothing like using bone to sharpen my blades, Samukai." The tornado – Wu – stated, breaking both the standoff and his tornado to reveal the old man from earlier. He eyed the three near him – and the water tower right by their house. Seemed Samukai noticed the water tower as well, as he smirked while looking in the direction the trio were.

"You can only save _one_, Wu." Samukai said, before throwing one of his blades at the water tower base, breaking it clean in half. Kai, Nya, and Kazeko looked up to the tower, before realizing what the monstrous skeleton had done. Immediately, Wu revved up his Spinjitsu once again.

"Ninja—GO!" Wu said, taking the trio away as best he could, pulling all three in as the water tower fell to the ground. Because of Wu's velocity, he accidentally threw Nya and Kazeko out of the spin. Nuckal and Kruncha came in soon after, holding the map of the Four Weapons in his hands.

Samukai, noticing the map in Kruncha's hands, immediately retreated to his big truck. "Take the girls! Lord Garmadon needs them!" he yelled to his subordinates, loud enough for Wu to hear over his oldness.

"_Lord_ Garmadon?" Wu asked in surprise, not noticing Samukai ordering Nuckal to capture both Nya and Kazeko from his grasp.

"No! Nya! Kimijuna!" Kai yelled, about to jump onto the skeleton vehicle before they left, but they dashed off before he could go after them. Nevertheless, Kai tried to pursue, 'try' being the keyword, as Wu grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him from chasing after the girls. "Kimijura! _NYAAAAAAA_!" he collapsed then, a look of horror and fear across his face. "They took my sister and my Kimijuna…" Kai's eyes watered as the thought crossed his mind—the one thing he _never_ expected to happen, happened. Now, he was alone… and about to be thwacked by Wu for not listening to him.

"As I said, _useless_." Wu stated, before thwacking Kai in the head. Kai immediately became furious at the elder man.

"You—You _obviously_ know more than _**I**_! Why didn't you use that twisty-jutsu thingy—"

"Spinjitsu."

"_Who __**cares**__ what it's called_! You didn't save **my** family!" Kai got up then, his heart burning in rage and fear that shone in his eyes. Wu hummed over the look as Kai continued. "I'm going to **save** them." Wu stepped in front of him then, a glower in his face as he explained the situation.

"Those skeletons are called the Skulkin, Kai. They live in a world where we cannot travel to." Wu turned to Kai carefully. "The four-armed beast you saw there was Samukai, the King of the Skulkin. If it's true that Garmadon has taken control of the Skulkin, then I believe things are direr than I thought…"

Kai couldn't take it anymore. "Garmadon? _Skulkin_? **Nothing** matters more than my own sister and my own girl! I _**can't**_ leave them in those—those monsters— What did we have that was _so_ important to them, and why did they take my _family_ and _kimijuna_?" If there was tears in his eyes, Kai ignored them for a near snarl of rage.

Wu looked at Kai in distain, before ranting about the world to the poor, angered blacksmith the entire world's history and his family… Each bit separated by death, and miserable fate…

* * *

_Meanwhile, in another location…_

Snow covered the expanse as two figures walked along the long-covered road, their breaths stolen by the howling blasts of wind. The white seemed endless, what little light that could break through the harsh cloud cover lighted the figure's shadows along the path. While the figures remained in their human-like shapes (despite their darkened clothing), the shadows that could be seen had horns and tiny, bat-like wings – which neither of the two seemed to have. The figures had been walking towards a village far away from the place that housed their kind, and they couldn't be more grateful for it. The slightly taller, with the horn in their shadow being on the left of their head, stopped for a moment, their counterpart stopping as well.

The smaller figure tilted their head, their horn in the shadow becoming longer as they moved to the left. "What's up?" they asked, their voice having a feminine hint to it.

"…Lost the scent…" The other said, voice croaked from the harsh winter around the two. The male-sounding figure sighed, before looking at the other carefully. "At this rate, we may not find that map…"

The two both sighed at the idea, puffs of white coming out of their mouths as they looked to where they thought their location was. Suddenly, the feminine-sounding figure started to shiver forcefully.

"You shouldn't stay out for too long, then." A third voice stated, causing the two figures to suddenly turn around and bring out their hands out, bright balls of green and lavender brightening up the snow venomously. Both figures looked to see a young, darkly clad child with a purple streak in her dark hair. Her dark chocolate eyes shone in mirth as she watched the two figure's faces change from fear to recognition.

"No way…" the figures both said, not noticing that the weather had cleared up fully – revealing the two as twins: the male sounding figure having blonde hair and red eyes, and the feminine sounding figure having brown hair with pink eyes. They both looked to each other, their light skin reflecting off the light in their hands, before looking back toward the smaller, almost dead looking kid.

"Lloyd," The girl said, looking at the male carefully. She then turned toward the young girl. "Rei… Want to see Papa?" the child asked, her mouth twitching to a semblance of a smile – hard to tell with the bone mask that covered her face. Immediately, the two – Lloyd and Rei – relaxed, the balls of green and lavender light disappearing immediately.

"Spectra? W-what do you _mean_ see Dad?" The male – Lloyd – asked, his horn and wings suddenly appearing to the girl. The brown-haired girl – Rei – did the same, revealing that her horn was on the right side of her head.

"If you don't remember, Grissie, we _can't_ enter that world – not like you can." Rei stated, her voice getting grumpier in frustration.

Spectra gave Rei a look, before returning to her cheerful state. "Don't worry! Papa taught me how to take more than one person into the portal! I can take you right now, if you want?" She asked carefully, knowing that the two wouldn't want to pass it up for the world.

As expected, the two had thought for a moment, before nodding. With a battle axe given to her by the Skullkin, Spectra instantly cleaved the ground, allowing the three people to pass through safely without incident. The only thing that was left of the three's existence was the mark left by the axe, which had gotten eaten up with the storm that returned.

* * *

_The next day, halfway up the Mountains of Impossible Height…_

Kai grunted as he climbed up the mountain, wondering whomever had the bright idea to try climbing up an _impossibly tall mountain range_ just _to prove themselves_. Then, the brunette reminded himself that _he_ had been the one to decide that, after the conversation with Wu last night. Speaking of which, where was—

"Patience, young Firestarter." Wu stated, leaving Kai in the dust momentarily as he breezed through the climbing. Right, they were talking about the agency of their mission, considering that the Skullkin _stole the map and Kai's sibling and girlfriend_. They reached the top, to find a beautiful, intricate monastery made what looked to be out of marble, with red roofing and a red door decorated with golden dragon symbols. Dragon heads made up the door handles, their mouths carrying a ring to pull on as Wu did. "You will be ready, when you are ready. Not a minute sooner." Wu then looked to the stunned Kai, before moving toward an intricate golden dragon statue beside the main entrance to the building.

"Are… Are we _really_ fighting in a place of **peace**?" Kai asked, wondering if the feelings he had were for disturbing the serene area.

"Not fighting, _training_." Wu said, as if _that_ made it any better. "Firestarter, in order to become a _true_ ninja, you must first be able to see what others do not." Kai noticed the title that Wu had given him that moment, about to question Wu on the title.

"Wait, why are you calling me—"

Then, the elder suddenly pulled the hand of the dragon statue, causing a _massive_ line of deadly turnabouts and spinning dummies to surface in the monastery's courtyard, startling Kai. In the middle was a carousel outfitted with many deadly, poking things – and a couple of outfitted dummies. Kai couldn't help but be amazed at the machinery involved, as every bit of the contraption spun around with the rotation of the carousel.

"Woah!" Kai awed, momentarily forgetting his question. "Is this how you're going to teach me that spinny thing?" the brunette asked, getting up toward the poles that were bobbing up and down, managing to land on one before it threw the former blacksmith off.

"Complete the training course before I finish my tea." Wu stated, slurping the hot beverage for extra effect as he winced at Kai's failure. "Unfortunately, today you've failed. We'll start again tomorrow." The elder man stated, before retiring back into the monastery in full. Kai looked to the so-called wise man in confusion, picking himself up and dusting himself off.

* * *

_In the Underworld…_

Wearily, Nya carefully opened her eyes, her head pounding and her back sore from resting on rocks. Her mind caught the smell of ancient blood and an undead sense of smell, suddenly making the raven-haired girl to cough loudly out of her slumber. As soon as she did, Nya recognized the layout of the place – dark, forboding place, the walls splattered with dried blood and a musky, tomb-like scent. Nya shivered as she looked beyond her cell – for how she could not see the bone bars keeping her captive in this region? – and found the young girl who made her brother happy in a cell opposite from hers. Kazeko looked forlorn over the whole situation, her body leaning on the bone bars as she peered off in the distance. Immediately, Nya sprang to her feet, reaching her own bars and trying to get Kaze's attention.

"Mach! Are you okay?" Nya frantically asked, worried about her good friend's odd look. Despite how she felt about Kazeko dating her brother, Nya knew that whatever was going on with them both was less important than their situation. Kazeko seemed to think the same, as she looked to Nya with a relieved smile on her face.

"Junebug! I'm glad you're awake!" Kazeko happily said, her face brightening up. "All I had to talk to was my own shadow, and you _know_ how much a conversationalist _she_ is." She giggled at her own remark, causing Nya to chuckle a bit as well. "Nya…" Kazeko said solemnly, reminding Nya of the situation. "Can't you feel it? the call of… _something_ in this place, talking to us…"

"Kaze, what –" As soon as Nya asked the question, a soothing melody that sounded like waves entered her head, almost overtaking her thoughts. "W-what _is _that?" She asked, freaking out over the siren's call.

"I-I don't…" Kazeko tried to plug her ears, feeling an almost flute-like, excited song in her own head.

"Ah, I see both the Watersiren and the Windfarer have awakened…" A gravely, disturbing voice called out to the two, quieting the songs in their heads. "To think, that you two would be where the Firestarter was as well. As much as I would have _loved_ to take him along, his sense of Justice would have shut out anything I told him…" The figure was at the entrance of the cells, an armoured samurai helmet rested on his head. Black skin covered most of his body, his ribs outlining his chest badly. The only other article of clothing the newcomer had was torn gi pants, burnt and shredded from _something_ – yet kept together to keep the man's dignity. His red eyes glowed with an air of malicious intent yet shone with a hint of fatherly love. The markings on his face, on the other hand, made the intent stand out more than anything else.

"Who – who the _Grand Oni_ are _you_?" Nya was the first to ask, her expression barely hiding the _fear_ she felt from the man. Kazeko looked over the man's shoulder to find two kids behind him, both looking erringly similar…

"I am _Lord_ Garmadon, my dear Watersiren…" The being – Garmadon – stated, looking at her carefully and gesturing to the figure behind him for something. "And _you two_ are going to become part of my own little group, as long as you have _this_…" As soon as it was placed in his hand, Garmadon revealed a beautiful, untarnished silver naginata to Nya, reveling in the look of awe and wonder as it sang the soothing song it had sung for her. Behind him, the two figures looked over to Kazeko, revealing themselves to be Lloyd and Rei from earlier.

"Don't think you're getting out of this _yet_, Miss Windfarer." Lloyd smirked, holding up silver gloves with a compartment that contained beautiful, claw-like sais. "Can't have you running back to your boyfriend without being trained to fight him, too." He winked at Kazeko, knowing she was too busy looking at the sais to hear what he just said. However, Nya did hear him.

"Wait, what do you mean—"

Garmadon took back the naginata – as did Lloyd with the sais – when both girls tried to grab the now-shrieking weapons. "The weapons are _useless_ without knowledge of their corresponding elements, that's what makes them the Silver Weapons that helped shape the world." He winked to Rei, before looking back at Nya's seeking gaze. "When I start your training, you _will_ be bound to a specific contract that I have outlined to _all_ the Weapons when I was dragged down. I'd _hate_ to think how'd you be if you _fail it…_" He warned the two, before immediately throwing the naginata into Nya's cell, allowing the spell to take effect as she touched the Silver Weapon. Lloyd did the same, shoving the gloves into Kazeko's awaiting hands and watching the effects of his father's magic take place. The magic roared around the two, binding them to the clause that Garmadon had threatened the two as it swarmed around them. When it died down, the two had looked no different than they had been before, save for the hint of a few markings lining their dominant hands - Garmadon's head as a symbol in black ink.

"Oh, my head…" Nya said once the smoke cleared, feeling a sense of _protect them, help them_ swelling in her mind. Immediately, she looked to Lloyd and Rei, the both of whom looking at her expectantly, and bowed silently. "I swear on this Weapon, I'll make sure to see you safe." Her voice droned on, but a hint of relief came when she saw the two smiling excitedly.

"Dad! The spell _worked_!" Rei excitedly yelped, jumping up and down as they saw Kazeko mimic what Nya did as well.

"Good, _good_. My Defenders, rise." The two rose, still looking at his charges with a fondness he wished he could express. "We'll begin your training; better to show you how to better protect my children, then using magic to immediately learn it." Garmadon immediately took the hands of his eldest son and daughter, a soft, non-villainous feeling as the three turned to stride out of the cells, the new guards following behind them.

* * *

_Three weeks after, at the top of the Mountains of Impossible Height…_

Kai grunted as he went through the training regimen from Yomi once again, his face contorted into a visage scowling at the carousel of death. His thoughts at how the first bit of training went sprung to mind, and the many failures that he endured before he managed to figure out the system. The first five times, Kai failed at the start, with the bamboo shooting him out into the air. The next week, Kai had failed at the carousel of death with it's merciless dummies, having ended up being knocked back as soon as he hit the side of the carousel instead. The past week, he managed to get past those things, only to nearly get skewered by the spears that were being shot out (luckily, they were just bamboo sticks, but Kai was starting to get hit too many times to tell). And all those moments rounded to Wu immediately finishing his drink before Kai could get up again. Now, Kai had a plan to keep Wu from failing him on the spot, but it needed the precise moment…

There! Just as Wu sat down to start drinking his tea, Kai immediately threw a rock into his cup, shattering the cremated beverage holder and forcing Wu to get up to get another one. Immediately, Kai took the opportunity to take the course again, this time getting through each part of the course with tremendous ease. Like a house cat, he gracefully moved with the motions of the course, keeping himself steady on the shooting bamboo, and frolicking – yes, _frolicking_ – through the carousel of death like a jaguar ready to strike. Kai smirked as he gallivanted like a cheetah through the maze of buzz saws and maces, before finally pouncing on the last dummy like the tiger he was meant to be, arriving back at the start just as Wu absently looked for his missing teapot. With the smirk of a content lion, Kai held up the teapot in his hands, his smirk growing bigger as Wu realized what he had done.

"Was it one sugar, or two?" Kai asked smarmily, amber eyes alight with mirth. Wu couldn't help but be proud of how the young boy handled the course. Kai immediately gave the master the teapot back, watching as Wu poured a cup of green tea for both himself and the excited student.

"Well done, Firestarter." Wu congratulated, giving Kai his own cup before sipping his drink. "You've managed to pass, and the fastest I've seen!" He gave a wink at the boy, before going on. "We'll start looking for the Golden Weapons tomorrow. Go and get some rest." With that, Wu immediately brought Kai up into the monastery, taking the tea-set he had with him.

"H-huh? But what about teaching me Spinjitsu?" Kai asked, bewildered that Wu put him through a course for three weeks without teaching him anything.

"You've already learnt it." Wu cryptically said, puzzling Kai further. "For now, get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow." Wu retreated to his room, far away from Kai's bemusement and questioning voice.

* * *

_Later, at night_…

Heart a little unsure, but the feeling of the creature he awakened in his head never left him as Kai got ready for bed, feeling antsy over the cryptic message left by Wu. In his fire-red pyjamas, Kai carefully took his toothbrush and cleansed his teeth of any disease or germs in his mouth. The words of his master echo through his mind, making the feeling in his heart ignite with a sense of anger.

"Get some sleep? How about I _don't_!" Kai angerly said, before throwing a series of moves about with his toothbrush as his practice weapon. In his frustration, he barely noticed the door to his room opening, allowing a dark-clothed figure to enter his room. "Let's _go_!" Kai thrusted his make-shift sword into an imaginary enemy—possibly Samukai—as the figure settled into place. Another dark-clothed figure entered through Kai's open window, pulling out a pair of shuriken's and waiting for the moment to strike. "I want to _save_ her!" Kai punctuated that last bit with another thrust of the tooth brush, only to hit a dark-clothed ninja behind him… one with a _very_ big, _very_ sharp scythe in his hands.

The fire died inside of him, as Kai realized the situation that was about to happen. "Oh…" he said, uncharacteristically softly.

***Part 1 End***


	2. Chapter 2

_Last Chapter…_

"_Get some sleep? How about I _don't_!" Kai angerly said, before throwing a series of moves about with his toothbrush as his practice weapon. In his frustration, he barely noticed the door to his room opening, allowing a dark-clothed figure to enter his room. "Let's _go_!" Kai thrusted his make-shift sword into an imaginary enemy—possibly Samukai—as the figure settled into place. Another dark-clothed figure entered through Kai's open window, pulling out a pair of shuriken's and waiting for the moment to strike. "I want to _save_ her!" Kai punctuated that last bit with another thrust of the tooth brush, only to hit a dark-clothed ninja behind him… one with a _very_ big, very _sharp_ scythe in his hands._

_The fire died inside of him, as Kai realized the situation that was about to happen. "Oh…" he said, uncharacteristically softly._

Now…

Kai looked back toward the larger, scythe-wielding ninja in front of him, before immediately thrusting his makeshift weapon – the toothbrush – into the far too open gi, causing Kai's would-be attacker to start trying to remove the electronic from his clothing. While the guy was distracted (and blocking the way for the other two, which the creature in Kai's heart noticed before him, telling him to _turn the situation around_), Kai immediately fled to the rafters of the roof, using them as his escape route before getting to the roof of the monastery. The other assailants ended up running outside as well, intercepting Kai's progress for an escape route. The creature within Kai growled, and he couldn't help but emulate that growl.

"_Use the training equipment!_" The creature seemed to be yelling in Kai's mind, and he couldn't help but think the same. Immediately, Kai pounced toward the dragon statue, throwing the switch and watching as the three ninjas were flung about from the equipment. When the shortest of his former assailants dizzily walked into his direction, Kai pounced, getting a few hits in before the smaller hit Kai back. The fight eventually became a mess, with each person getting a few hits on Kai and vice versa on each member, until light overcame the giant puff-cloud of fighting and the four immediately stopped at Wu's voice.

"Stop!" he yelled, causing the three ninjas on Kai to pull back. The three immediately bowed to Wu, and Kai _felt_ rather than _heard_ the creatures in the hearts of the ninja.

"Wait a moment! You mean _these_ bozos are _your_ students as _**well**_?" Kai yelled, the gears in his head turning as he himself turned. Seeing Wu nod, Kai felt upset over the situation. "That means that this was my final test, wasn't it…?"

Suddenly, the smaller ninja removed his ninja scarf, revealing curly dark-red hair, blue eyes, and an olive complexion. His face was soft, almost cherubic, though Kai noticed a few invisible freckles over his face. He immediately started talking, the creature in his soul flitting about as he talked. "Woah, woah-woah-_woah_-_**woah**_! Master! You _never_ said anything 'bout a _fourth_! It's always been three! Three Blind mice, Three Musketeers, three –" He rambled onward, not noticing he was being ignored by the others.

The second tallest ninja sighed, his creature snorting at the rambling ninja. Taking off his own scarf to reveal a raven-haired, grey eyed young man with chiselled features and brows as thick as a hairy caterpillar. "Sir, I think what Jay means to say is it's always been _us_. We're quite solid." He stated, causing a snort from Kai's own creature as Kai smarmily muttered "Not as solid as you think."

The last ninja, the tallest and the most awkward looking, pulling his mask off to reveal the palest complexion out of all of them; with hair as white as snow sticking upward and strong grey-blue eyes – Sauntered up carefully to the light, face blank as he asked "Master, what is the meaning of this?" to Wu.

Wu looked to the tall one carefully, choosing his words. "Each of you have been chosen – to be in tune with the elements inside of you." Wu then set himself into position, "But before we continue – _Ninja GO_!" The master instantly turned into the golden tornado, moving toward the four.

Before they could get away, Wu immediately sucked them in all at once, transforming each of their clothing into standard ninja gi. Kai gained red gi, similar in design to the others, besides the symbol of the flame lion – the symbol of those descended from the first Firestarter – on the rope wrapped around his chest. Looking back to the other ninja, Kai found the others in somewhat similar outfits. The chatty one wore blue gi with the symbol of the first Lightningracer – the thunderbird, the tall one wore white (which made Kai a bit anxious, though then he remembered that he's wearing _bright red_) with the symbol of the first Iceshredder – the frost wolf, and the more powerful-looking one stayed in black with the symbol of the first Earthshaker – The iron bull.

The each of them was given a weapon to defend themselves with – Kai getting an okatana not unlike the ones he used to make at the Four Weapons, the mouthy ninja getting a pair of nunchucks that looked well used, the tall ninja shuriken's that he looked at dumbly, and the brute a scythe as tall as he.

"Oh wow! That was _amazing_! I'm in my favourite colour!" the chatty one said, admiring the gi that he now wore. The bulkier one looked a bit disappointed at the colour choice of _his_ gi, pulling off the mask to give Wu a scowl.

"Why am I still in black?" He asked. Wu chuckled, before coming up to each newly clothed ninja.

"You all asked me _why_ I called you by a specific name. It's because these names were the _original titles_ of my father's friends – the _First Elemental Masters_." Wu simply stated, looking at Kai first. "Kai Hinata, the Firestarter. Your soul is as bright as the First Firestarter." Kai smirked at the faint praise, as Wu moved onward to Jay. "Jay Walker, the Lightningracer. Blue _was_ his favourite, too."

"Oh, _that_'s not the only thing I'm the master at." The blue ninja – Jay – started, everyone knowing the outcome before they sensed his creature start to flutter again. "I do a bit of inventing, a dabble of modeling, a touch of cooking, a bit of poetry—"

"May as well start calling him "Mouth of Lightning" to shut him up…" the black ninja said, earning a smile from Kai for the clever idea. Wu immediately came up to the ninja.

"Cole Brookstone, the Earthshaker. Black as obsidian, harder than even a diamond." Wu stated, reminiscing of a time long past. Cole immediately went to shake Kai's hand.

"Nice to meet you, kid. I got your back," Cole said, smirking at the recruit. "And, for the record, there's _nothing_ in this world that scares me." He winked, while the white ninja coughed into his hand.

"Except for dragons." The white ninja said, getting an angry glare from Cole himself.

"They _aren't_ from this world." Cole specified. "By the Great Dragoness, they _came_ from the same world as the First Spinjitsu Master!" He huffed the last bit, the creature in his soul doing the same. While this was happening, Wu moved toward the white ninja.

"And the Iceshredder is Zane. He's our seer and controller of blizzards." Wu smirked, putting a hand on Zane's shoulder. Kai whistled at the idea of one of them being a 'seer'.

"Wow, I sense he takes things a _bit_ too seriously?" Kai winked, a visual for Zane to realise he was joking. However, the Iceshredder didn't seem to understand.

"Oh! I didn't know _you_ have the power too!" Zane said intriguingly, almost getting into Kai's face before Jay pulled him back – and laughing at the poor ninja's expression.

"Zane, he's making a _joke_. Remember what we had been talkn' 'bout earlier? Your sense of humor, or lack thereof?" Jay tittered, rambling on for Zane to eventually get the idea. The white ninja scoffed at the hyper teen.

"Yes, a _joke_. Ha, ha." Zane smarmily said, making the blue ninja shake his head in disappointment. It was at this point Wu felt the introductions were finished.

"Alright, now that you all know each other, I'll get started on why you're here: you four are the chosen ones, who will protect the four weapons of Spinjitsu… from Lord Garmadon." Wu added the last bit with a shielded sorrow, before Kai got angry over the master forgetting an important detail.

"Hold on! What about _my_ sister and my girl!" Kai flared, the flames of his heart flickering. Jay suddenly gasped, immediately jumping to Kai's side.

"Ohmygosh! Arewesavingagirl?" Jay suddenly said, startling Kai with both the speed of which the Lighningracer was talking as well as the flittering of his creature.

"Jay –" Cole tried, but Jay immediately moved toward Kai's over side to avoid the Earthshaker's grip.

"Wait, I need to _know_ what we're getting' into! Wouldshelikethecolourblue? Wouldsheevenlike_me_?" Jay kept going, suddenly becoming more and more anxious as he blabbered. It stressed the newly crowned Firestarter, the way that Jay was talking and the way his creature was now _squawking_ over the stress. Immediately, Kai pushed the blue ninja away, growling "Stop that!" as he did.

Wu sighed, wondering _how_ his father dealt with this… this _chaos_. "We'll find your sister _and_ your girlfriend when we collect _all_ of them." Wu immediately started to move toward the monastery's door, looking back at the others. "Come! The first weapon awaits!"

"Wait," Cole said, realizing something, "Weren't you going to teach us how to Spinjitsu?" Kai gestured to Cole, making faces at Wu –as _he himself_ had asked this question earlier in the day. Wu couldn't help but chuckle at the two.

"Spinjitsu is inside _all_ of you, but it can only be unlocked when you have the key." He then strained his back, leaving the ninja to think about what he said before stating "Come! My feet are tired, let's take the horse carriage."

"Ugh…" Cole sighed.

"Now we _have_ to _find_ a Key?" Jay squawked, feeling cheated out. The others felt the same, though they wouldn't admit it.

"Well, it seems like he's giving us a ride…" Cole tried to look positive on the situation, not wanting to throw a hissy fit over the situation.

"As long as it helps saving my family, I'm in." Kai agreed.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the Underworld…_

Lloyd grumpily sat in front of a shogi board, contemplating his next move. The bone pieces seemed to mock the poor boy, as most of his opponent's pieces were drawing close to his jeweled king, with the dragons threatening the poor wall of pawns he had set up. It was his father's turn, and Garmadon seemed rather displeased that Lloyd hadn't learned much from this current round. They were playing in the throne room of the Underworld – Garmadon on the throne made from stone and bones, and Lloyd sitting on a stool on the side with the shogi board between them, with Nya standing guard near where Rei was resting - snoozing in her father's lap. Garmadon sighed, taking a promoted bishop and immediately taking a pawn, taking a checkmate – as Lloyd ended up accidentally cornering his king with the wall.

"Checkmate, my boy." Garmadon smiled despite the lack of energy to emote that much, as Lloyd immediately reacted in childish frustration and anger. As much as Garmadon liked to see his son react in a childish way (making the venom within react with _sickening pleasure_), he needed to let the boy know where he went wrong. "You can't keep sacrificing your best pieces, Lloyd." He carefully stated, wiping the built-up tears off his son's face. "Even the pawns that you have are worth more than you think."

"I-I know…" Lloyd whined, looking up to his father before trying to get rid of his tears. "But-but I wanted to _beat_ you so _badly_…" the boy hiccupped, his hands covering his face. "How am I going to prove to them that I _can_ be the best Overlord-to-be if I _can't_ beat you at a _stupid_ game?" Lloyd sniffled, snot as green as the five imprinted on his bulky black sweater.

Garmadon sighed more heavily, getting up carefully – still holding the sleeping Rei in his arms – before carefully stroking the boy's blond hair. "Lloyd, listen to me." The Overlord stated, getting to Lloyd's height and waiting until Lloyd was looking at him in the eyes before continuing. "You're still young, you don't _need_ to become my next successor. You're better off doing your own thing." Garmadon didn't add that Lloyd would end up regretting his actions if he went through becoming Overlord – heck! _Garmadon himself_ still felt terrible for kicking Samukai off his throne, but the venom _demanded_ that he _needed_ to…

Lloyd sniffled a bit more, before looking away from his father's gentle grip. "S-sorry, dad." The boy stated sadly. Garmadon was about to talk a bit more to his son, before Samukai and Jijura – a giant, bone whale creature – immediately came into the throne room, with Samukai holding onto two women in his hands. The one in Samukai's left was a calm, olive skinned woman, with a soft round face and chocolate brown eyes. Her raven hair was done in a braid, and a scowl was present on her face, her body covered up to her neck in a dark red turtleneck sweater and blue jeans. The one in Samukai's right on the other hand, was thrashing about in his grip, swearing profanities in his direction. Her hair was dyed green, cut in a pixie cut. Her blue eyes glowed maliciously, her face and body marred with freckles. She wears a light green tee with a graffiti print on it, her ripped jeans at the forefront of Garmadon's sight. Immediately, Garmadon growled at the intrusion.

"Samukai, what is the meaning of _this_?" Garmadon growled, snapping his fingers suddenly. Nya immediately sprang to attention, bringing herself over to Garmadon before he _pulled_ on her newly awakened creature. As soon as she got close, the Warlord immediately gave her the still-sleeping body of Rei, before saying "Take Rei and Lloyd and make sure they're put to bed. I'll come in later to check on them." Garmadon softly said, not bothering to look when the Watersiren gently guided Lloyd away from the throne room. Lots of shouting was going to be involved, Garmadon expected, and he _didn't_ want either Lloyd nor Rei see the monster that he held back inside for them and Spectra.

"_Sentimental trash…_" Samukai muttered under his breath, before unceremoniously dropping the two girls from his grip before bringing his swords to their chests, keeping them in place. "Really, _Lord_, you think I wouldn't add to your _little_ Kid Guards if it weren't a present? I feel something… _different_ with these two…" The skeleton smirked cruelly, looking at Jijura to back him up. Luckily for the four-armed skeleton, the whale skeleton seemed to be in a better mood than he had been since Garmadon was thrown into the Underworld.

"The gorilla is correct, my Lord." Jijura stated, a monotonous voice perpetrating the throne room. "As for your spawn, the One who Walks the Underworld is currently searching for the first of your father's miserable weapons, in the Caves of Despair." Garmadon growled at his insubordinate's lack of submission, the venom in his veins poisoning his thought process.

"And is someone watching her, this exact moment?" The Warlord growled, dark red eyes glowing brighter in anger. Samukai shirked back from the glare, though it didn't affect Jijura that much.

"The girl is safe, Dark Lord." Jijura stated, pushing Samukai forward. "The brute left his own leaders, Nuckal and Kruncha to take care of her." The whale skeleton immediately bowed. "I'll send my own subordinates if you wish to have extra protection."

"…No. Spectra is safe with Samukai's men, but I'd rather have one _intelligent_ eye on the area." Garmadon stated, hissing over the thought. Immediately, he dismissed the two with a wave of his hand. "You are dismissed for now, Jijura." Garmadon stated. "Samukai, bring the girls with you – We'll _need_ to see if they're capable of _wielding_ the weapons." Garmadon left for the cells, Samukai trailing the girls behind the Warlord.

* * *

_Back at Ninjago, near the Caves of Despair…_

"'Sign me up'. Way to go, fire boy." Jay grumbled, huffing as he pulled the horse carriage that Wu had mentioned with the other ninja, pissed off face hidden by his scarf. The ninjas were taking Wu – whom was currently sitting in the horse carriage drinking tea as they moved – towards the Caves of Despair, a once popular tourist area that, long ago, had ceased because of threats of a giant beast guarding the cave. The ninja moved along the path to the Caves, the path of green and forest starting to disperse for patchy, dry land.

"I sense this must be a form of team building…" Zane said, not at all bothered by the pace nor the weight of the carriage.

"Let's just… keep pulling…" Cole stated, taking authority over the situation. "We've still got a way to go."

"I've got to ask…" Kai started, a thought passing through his mind. "I think Wu already told you guys how _I _met him, but what about you three?" the Firestarter asked. The other three 'hummed' in thought over it.

"Well," Cole started, looking back at Kai quickly before turning back. "If it weren't for Master, I'd probably still be testing my limits." Cole remembered when he climbed the tallest mountain in the Mountains of Impossible Height, before finding Wu sitting on the top as well, drinking tea.

"Heh!" Jay winked at Kai, laughing at the mention of Kai's story. "I was just testing my inventions when Master found me." Jay didn't want to add that the said invention he worked with kind of… _broke_ when he tried it in the city's limits, having hit a signboard and breaking the wings of his invention. If it weren't for Wu bandaging him before giving him tea, Jay'd probably would have went back home dejected at another failure.

"Huh." Zane said, deciding on telling Kai. "Well, I was testing my limits when _I_ met him…" Zane said, remembering how he meditated at the bottom of the lake, not noticing Wu come in until he saw the elder sipping some tea… _underwater_. "I still wonder how he managed to drink underwater…"

"Honestly, I'm kind of glad he brought us together…" Kai stated, before looking at the three ninjas. Wu immediately stopped Kai from speaking further, however.

"Stop!" Wu suddenly said, causing the ninjas to stop the carriage. They stopped just to see the expanse of canyon, covered in holes and machinery. Many skeletons were about, using the machinery to dig through the ancient Ninjagian history to find whatever it was they were looking for. A cloaked figure stood in the middle of the chaos, an odd, imp-like creature hanging on their shoulder. They stood at the point where all five suspected was the main operations tower, a giant bone tower that contained a small building on top. Wu immediately brought the four ninjas to hide behind the boulder, before explaining; "These are the Caves of Despair. Samukai's men must be close to unearthing the Scythe of Quakes. Please, remember to _not_ use the weapon, for it's power—"

"Yeah, yeah, _yeah_." Jay cut through Wu's speech, having heard it on their way to the Caves. "We got it! 'Too much power for both mortals and developing Masters'! Alright, let's go!" Jay immediately did a pose, before looking to Cole. Kai fidgeted on the spot as the Lightningracer continued. "Cole, buddy, got's the plan?"

"Sure do," Cole smiled at Jay despite the situation, not noticing Kai immediately leave as he started. "First, we lower ourselves down this edge, and then Kai—" the Earthshaker turn to where Kai was last at, before noticing a distinct lack of red beside him. "Hey, where did Kai _go_?" immediately, the other ninjas started to look for their wayward friend, with Jay noticing Kai expertly moving through the site – dancing and avoiding sight like the fire lion his creature emulated.

Jay sighed as he recognized what was happening. "Guys, I found Kai. We need to go." They immediately did so, trailing behind the Firestarter and trying to match his steps. A few times, they had to save Kai from being caught by another Skullkin, getting more irritated as they moved onward. Finally, they reached the main part of the campsite, where the hooded figure and their creature was carefully looking over a parchment of something—

"No way! The map!" Kai whispered to himself, recognizing the map that the Four Weapons once hid on its sign. The other three ninja were riding up the conveyor belt behind the red ninja, accidentally listening in on Nuckal and Kruncha's conversation.

"Oh! Oh! Kuncha! Look! I _found_ something for Miss Spectra!" Nuckal excitedly yells, holding up an ancient rock in the form of a wheel. Kruncha, feeling a bit upset over his hollow-headed partner for finding something _meaningless_ again, immediately slaps him in the back of his head.

"That's _another_ dumb rock, rocks-for-brains!" Kruncha stated, before looking back through the rocks on the conveyor belt. He then noticed the long-abandoned box that the ninjas used to hide throughout the base, wondering where it came from.

"But-but it's shaped like a _doughnut_!" Nuckal stated, before a thought came across his head. "Would it _taste_ like a doughnut?" Immediately, the eye-patch-wearing skeleton took a bite into the rock, before howling over his pained teeth.

While this was going on, Kai moved onward to the tower, with the other ninja behind him on different, safer routes. Kai ended up managing to get to the roof of the headquarters on his own, before Jay immediately pulled him back from the window.

"Dude, what's _wrong_ with you?" The Lightningracer started, slapping Kai on the back of his head. "Didn't you hear what Master Wu said? Weneedtostickto—" Jay's frantic anxiety attack came at a boiling point, one that would have alerted the rest of the base if Kai had not silenced him with a hand and a 'Quiet!' to bring him back to reality. As they did that, the ninjas immediately moved to the window behind the cloaked figure, to find that they had long since removed the hood of their cloak – showing a little girl with raven hair with a purple streak in her fringe, her hair tied with a skull and crossbones ribbon. She carried a bone axe that doubled as her staff, as it was too big for her entirely and the heavy bit seemed stuck to the ground. On the other end of the table where the map was on was a small, rodent-like creature with a long, scythe-like tail and small black horns. Its yellow eyes shone in mischievousness and fondness for the human girl, its dark fur illuminated to a turquoise glow from them.

"Amanojaku, do you think we're digging in the right spot?" The girl asked, cementing the ninjas feelings over her being one of Garmadon's lackies. "I mean, Dad seems to think that this _is_ the right place, but we haven't met the Guardian of the Scythe…" she twirled around to the window the ninjas were looking through, them immediately ducking out before they realized that the girl looked too sickly pale and was wearing a mask that looked like a skull.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry so much, Princess!" a scratchy, squeaky voice started, which the ninjas suspected was this 'Amanojaku' that the girl was talking to. "The map's all but accurate, but you're right about us not meeting the Guardian – it's probably that the stupid skullkin have read the map upside down…" A small _squeak_ happened as the girl started to leave the headquarters with the creature. "May as well get them idiots digging in the right spot, Princess." What else could be heard from the conversation faded as the two moved onward, away from the four ninjas as they crawled into the headquarters immediately.

"Well, that squeaky oni was _right_!" Jay said, looking at the map before picking it up and flipping it over. "It _was_ upside down!" Immediately, Jay gave it to the new Iceshredder, whom opened the map carefully and looked at it.

"The girl was also correct on her assumption; We're actually not that far from where the Scythe of Quakes is." Zane smiled despite how close the skullkin were to their prize. Before Zane could figure out the other locations of the Golden Weapons, Kai immediately took the map from the white ninja's hands, looking at it as well.

"Good; we have no time to waste." Kai said, stuffing the map into his gi before immediately leaving the rest of the group in the dust. Cole growled harshly, before the other three tailed after the Firestarter.

"What's with the guy?" Jay muttered to himself as they tailed Kai. "He seems always in a rush…"

They kept on keeping up with Kai, up until he got stuck with a giant boulder blocking his path. Cole, angered at Kai's constant ditching, immediately started pushing the boulder with him.

"Kai! Remember that we're a _team_, which means that you _can't_ go around ditching us at every _moment_!" Cole lectured as he pushed, before getting Jay and Zane helping them out as well. Kai huffed as he pushed on with extra help, not really caring about what Cole was saying.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Kai stated monotonously but didn't say more as they pushed the boulder up further away from the entrance. Inside the cavernous entrance was a beautiful, jeweled area with multiple gemstones embedded in the stones. Many of the larger gems framed the area where the Golden Scythe of Quakes was, with black quartz and Obsidian framing the pedestal where the scythe rests. The ninjas all looked in amazement, with Jay starting to bounce excitedly.

"Oh wow!" Jay yelled excitedly, his voice breaking at a few points. "That is so _cool_!" The cave echoed at the last word, causing Zane and Kai to immediately slap his mouth shut. However, it seemed a fruitless effort, as the shout echoed throughout the Caves of Despair, allowing every skullkin to hear the sound and its location…

"Jay! Not so loud!" Cole whisper-shouted to the blue ninja, his hand touching the Scythe of Quakes' handle as he flinched from the racket.

"Really! We got _past_ all of them and we're on the _opposite side_!" Jay angerly stated, shoving Kai and Zane away from him as he continued. "It's not like we can't _skip_ past them like the Ninja we _are_!"

"Now _who's_ being cocky?" Zane whispered secretly to Kai, whom couldn't help but chuckle a bit over the honest remark.

"Just zip it, alright?" Cole finished, grabbing the Scythe and immediately throwing it to Kai. "We've got the scythe, now we need to go before the boneheads come racing toward us." Cole hopped down from the pedestal where the scythe was at, not noticing the wall of obsidian and black quartz start moving as he and the rest of the ninjas headed toward the cave entrance.

As they reached the entrance, they found the skullkin at the entrance to the Scythe of Quakes, all of them looking _very_ ticked off that a bunch of humans beat them to it. In front of Nuckal and Kruncha sat the pale girl that seemed to be leading them, her face blank as she immediately held out her hand.

"Firestarter, give me the scythe." Her command was sharp and authoritative, almost kingly, and her dark-chocolate eyes never wavered from Kai. It was almost too much for him, taking a couple of steps before he realized something. "_Wait, why am _I _listening to her?_" Kai immediately stopped his walk, but the others noticed him moving to her.

The girl frowned at Kai's attempt at resisting her. No matter; she'll just have to do it the hard way. A bright, purplish glow came out of the axe she used as a staff, alerting the skullkin to attention immediately. "_**Get the Scythe!**_" Her voice commanded, and all the skullkin's eye-sockets instantly took on a bright purple glow. "_**Make sure the ninjas are comatose, as well!**_" The skeleton warriors immediately flew into action, starting the attack against the four ninjas immediately. They mostly hounded around Kai, who could barely do much with the scythe in his hand. Suddenly, Zane noticed Cole waving to him, telling the white ninja to throw the scythe to him.

"Kai! Throw it here!" Zane yelled, kicking a few skullkin as they got too close to his face. Kai immediately nodded and sliced a few skullkin out of his way before throwing the scythe over to Zane, whom immediately used a few skullkin heads to immediately leap out and grab the scythe from the air. Throwing a few shuriken for good measure, Zane immediately went to look for Cole in the madness. "Cole! Heads up!" Zane yelled when he spotted the black ninja, throwing the scythe to him immediately.

"Going long!" Cole yelled, hopping over the skullkin heads like Zane did to take the scythe from the air, landing on a few boneheads before pulling out the scythe he came equipped with and spun around him. This seemed to put enough distance between him and the rest of the bones-for-brains, them standing around his arc and being careful of when he swung it next.

But, unlike the very human ninja, the skullkin were without need of stamina and could easily repair themselves, restoring the original amount of the army back in the first place. The girl carefully watched as she examined the scene before her, noting when one of the ninja slip up and when one of them took a hit from the walking, talking bones. The skullkin may not have been the brightest of mooks, but they were the most _plentiful_, and the girl was content in how they made sure that they stuck to non-lethal blows. "_Soon, they'll fall._" She thought to herself, smirking as the other three ninja ended up backing into each other, while the many skullkin circled around them.

"There's too many of them!" Kai frantically stated, amber eyes going wide. Jay suddenly realized something and started to see the skullkin as the training equipment back at the monastery.

"I think we can take them." Jay confidently said, surprising the two ninjas beside him. Immediately, he started to chant "Over the planks, dodge the sword, here comes the Dummy!" as he rushed into the skulkin, dodging each swipe with the grace of an hawk, spiraling over the mooks like an eagle, and lunging at each attacking skullkin like a falcon. Suddenly, the blue ninja started to get faster, allowing the creature in his soul to get bigger and bigger, each swipe of the nunchucks hitting the right targets and none of the skullkin hitting him. Then, with a sudden screech of the Thunderbird inside, Jay started to _spin_ like Master Wu; save for the tornado being a _constant sparking mess_ of blue. Not pausing in his movements for anything as he twirled around the skullkin, before coming back toward the others in a dizzy, stopping the violent tornado before he landed his butt on the ground. Both Kai and Zane immediately went over to the blue ninja, helping him up with shocked expressions on their faces (not that it could be seen with the scarves).

"Jay! Are you okay?" Zane asked, looking to see if Jay could stand up on his own. Kai, however, didn't think about his team-mate's safety.

"Jay! How'd you figure out Spinjitsu?" Kai asked, looking at Jay carefully. Immediately, the blue ninja gave a wink to the Firestarter.

"I was reminded of the training regimen Wu put us through! I'm just following the motions of it!" Jay stated, before looking over to Cole's location to find him in a bad spot. Immediately, Jay started using Spinjitsu once again, the Thunderbird in his soul taking over once again. Kai and Zane immediately followed Jay's example, also chanting the mantra that Jay had spoken earlier, before going all out in their own Spinjitsu as well – Zane's being frosty hail, while Kai's was as bright as the burning sun. Cole, having seen how Jay was still chanting the words as well, immediately started doing the same, the creature in his soul getting brighter and brighter until the Iron Bull fully encompassed him, creating a tornado of sand and topsoil around him.

The fight was no longer in the skullkin's favour.

Nuckal, upon recognizing what the ninjas were saying, commented to Kruncha that he was a 'dummy', which caused the two morons to start fighting in between. The skullkin were getting blasted, shocked, frozen, and knocked into a pile of bones as the ninjas kept spinning, many of them suddenly breaking out of the spell the girl had placed on all of them, with all of them – including Nuckal and Kruncha – spouting out a "Retreat!" and running away from the caves. The girl immediately started yelling back at them, her fear overpowering her commanding voice.

"Please! Don't go!" She yelled out, tears appearing in her eyes as every skullkin soldier left, sniffling as the four ninjas surrounded her and pointed their weapons at her. She looked at the weapons, with their sharp blades and the cold steel, and was glad that the ninjas wouldn't be able to follow her through the portal that she created suddenly. As soon as the portal was big enough, the girl fell through it, watching the ninjas try to follow her through to no avail. She smirked as the portal closed over itself, her blood singing as she watches their frustrated and surprised looks as it closed over.

"Damnit!" Cole said, pounding his foot on the place where the girl disappeared. "She escaped before we had a chance to take her in!" Kai and Jay nodded in agreement – as it would have been _nice_ to know what Garmadon was planning with the Golden Weapons… "Ah well, it's a good thing that they didn't get the merchandise…" the Earthshaker immediately went to grab the Scythe of Quakes – still situated on his back – when the black ninja immediately stopped, fear overtaking him as he turned fully around. The others, lost in the ignorance of learning Spinjitsu, had not noticed his loss of words and sudden gasp.

"Alright!" Kai's yell of excitement was joined by Jay's quiet "Woo-hoo!" as the two both celebrated their victory, not noticing their comrades' sudden silence over the situation, nor the soft – but forced – breathing from the catacombs behind them.

"Shouldn't there be a guardian here? Both Wu and the little girl mentioned one earlier…" Zane asked quizzingly, before noticing that Cole seemed to be terrified of something. "Cole? What's…" The white ninja immediately trailed off, seeing the dark obsidian—like mass in front of Cole _move_.

As soon as Zane trailed off, Kai and Jay immediately turned toward a most vicious – yet beautiful – sight. As large as the cavern itself, covered head to toe in obsidian-black scales, claws and horns as brown as the cavern dust, and an accusatory glare with dark-chocolate eyes was the guardian of the Scythe of Quakes itself – The Obsidian Dragon. The dragon's gaze was on the black ninja the entire time, its anger rising at its treasure being stolen under its nose. It had forgotten that unlike the descendants of the creator of the world, the beings that populate it could not speak the words it knew by heart and tried to speak to the intruders while spreading its quartz and moss-covered wings.

"YOU WHO TAKE THE TREASURE OF MASASHI… THE ONE WHO CREATED THIS WORLD…"(A/N) It started, confusing the quartet.

"Wait, what's it saying?" Zane asked the others, not understanding the words coming out of the creature's mouth.

"I dunno, but I think it's angry…" Kai said unhelpfully, becoming more terrified as it continued.

"I CAN SENSE THE FEAR YOU ALL POSSESS, WHY HAS MY FRIEND'S CHILD TOLD YOU NOTHING? YOU MAY BE THIS GENERATION'S NEWEST ELEMENTAL MASTERS, BUT I WILL NOT PRETEND THAT YOU ARE MY OLD MASTER WHEN YOU WEAR HIS CLOTHING!"(A/N) The dragon suddenly roared, the cavern shaking as it stood up. Immediately, the obsidian dragon directed its head at them.

"Why didn't you stay in the _First Realm_?" Cole yelled, dodging the rock spat out at him, before running towards the others as the dragon blasted dust and sand at the fleeing ninjas. The dragon huffed at their pathetic escape, before leaping into the air, blocking the four's only exit.

"YOUR ATTEMPTS AT FLEEING WITH YOUR SKIN ARE FUTILE, LOWLY PESTS!" The dragon stated, taking in the fear that all four of them had in their faces. "TOO BAD YOUR MASTER, WHOMEVER THEY MAY BE, WON'T SEE YOUR PATHETIC BODIES BEING CRUSHED BY MY JAW! YOU ALL SCREAM SO BEAUTIFULLY…"(A/N) The obsidian dragon was getting ready to strike with its claws – with the rest of the ninjas immediately closing their eyes at their fate – when a large _clang_ of metal meeting claw resounded in the cave. Immediately, the three ninjas opened their eyes to find _Kai_ using _the Scythe of Quakes_ against the beast.

"_**KAI NO**_!" Jay yelled, snapping the others out of their stupor. "Remember what Master Wu said? About _using_ the ultra-dangerous weapon-?"

"_**SHUT UP AND **__**GO**_!" Kai yelled, shocking the group on what he's planned. The obsidian dragon immediately bowed its head at the Firestarter, ready to blast the red ninja into next week. Thinking quickly, Kai pulled out of the lock he had with the earthen beast, dashing as soon as the dragon lost the ability to balance, allowing it to fall instantly. And fall it indeed did, landing on its side and struggling to get up as the other ninjas surrounded their wayward recruit. Jay and Zane immediately dashed outward to the exit, Cole and Kai trailing behind when the obsidian dragon got itself up again.

"FAKE FIRESTARTER! YOU CANNOT CONTROL THAT WEAPON!"(A/N) The Dragon roared, steadying itself back upright before immediately running toward the entrance.

"Kai, **NO**! Don't use the Scythe!" Cole yelled back, reaching the entrance before Kai. Immediately, the Earthshaker turned on his heel to pull the Firestarter outside. Kai turned around, seeing the lumbering beast run toward the ninja's location, and immediately jumped. Slamming the scythe blade onto the ground, the whole cavern shook as the dragon fell onto the ground, the crumbling structure of the cavern itself suddenly coming to light. Kai winked back at Cole, unleashing his beast in a moment of need – before throwing himself into a spin. Immediately, the Fire lion inside him heeded his call, and made him fly just before the cavern closed in.

"Oh… my gosh…" Jay said, looking at the wall between them and the obsidian dragon that had attacked. Kai smirked, his creature purring as the praise came flooding in as he stopped spinning. The four took notice of the shaking the rest of the cave, before immediately getting outside to the entrance, the entire structure collapsing further.

"We… We did it!" Zane yelled suddenly, excitement overwriting his calm demeanor. That was the cue for the rest of the ninja to start celebrating over their victory, with Cole's 'Yahoo!' and Kai's 'Alright!' mixing in for good measure. In fact, they were _so_ relieved of their success, they had not noticed their master come up behind them until he whacked them _all_ in the noggins with his stick.

"_Enough_! Why did _none_ of you _heed_ my warnings about the _scythe_?" Wu angerly yelled, causing the four of them to jump up out of their skin despite their head injuries. The creatures inside all four ninja panicked as well, with Jay's Thunderbird tittering in order to fix it's anxiety. Immediately, Jay pointed a finger at Kai.

"He used it." Jay squeaked. Immediately, Kai turned toward the Lightningracer, agitated at the accusation.

"_What_?" Kai sputtered out, the beast inside glaring hard at Jay. Cole immediately stepped in to cover for the fitful bird.

"I warned him against it, yet _Kai_ ignored my order." Cole stated, looking blank as he addressed Wu personally. Immediately, Kai glared, before turning toward thee sensei himself.

"That dragon was _attacking_ us. There was no way we could defeat it without using _this_." Kai stated, holding out the Scythe of Quakes to Wu, whom immediately took it from the Firestarter's hands. Wu then immediately got close, his golden eyes suddenly turning more dangerous – draconic, almost, but _empty_ of most things you find in the eye – as the master came up to lecture his student.

"And _what_ makes you _think_ you're more valuable on your _own_?" Wu whispered dangerously in Kai's ear, making the Firestarter shiver in fear.

"They-They took my family… and my _love_…" The amber-eyed teen stuttered out, knowing his argument was weak. Wu turned away from Kai and started moving toward the West.

"Come! We have the other three weapons to look for!" Wu stated, not looking back as he moved onward. Zane immediately followed, followed by Jay. Cole was the only one to wait for Kai, looking a bit sorrowful before heading off with the others. As soon as he left, Kai immediately shook off his fears, realizing _why_ Wu had specifically chewed him out.

"If you _wanted_ us to work together… then _why_ did you train me _alone_?" Kai muttered, before heading off toward where the others were going.

* * *

"Papa… I'm so sorry. I couldn't get the gold scythe…" The pale girl sobbed to Garmadon, who held her carefully as she sobbed into his shoulder. "I-I didn't even _know_ that they didn't learn the _spinny trick_ like-like Lloyd said…" her hiccups and tears encompassed most of her face, not bothering to see the smirk Garmadon had on his face over the news.

"Hush, Spectra… It's all right… If they figured out 'the spinny trick', it means your uncle was with them…" He calmly stated, stroking his young daughter carefully. He soothed his young daughter, hoping that words of encouragement would get through to her.

Lloyd and Rei suddenly came in through the grand entrance of the throne room, chasing Amanojaku and attempting to catch him. Lloyd immediately jumped, only to fall short of the intended length from the tiny oni. Rei immediately shot out her hand, and suddenly the tiny oni hit an invisible wall before Rei walked over to immediately pick him up.

"_Finally_! Yeesh, Amano, you _are_ that annoying!" Rei said excitedly, holding onto the dazed oni as Lloyd immediately got up and angerly glared at his twin, before noticing Spectra's sobbing and coming up to his father and younger sister.

"Spectra? What's wrong?" He asked, not realizing he may have been part of the problem. Garmadon looked at his eldest son carefully - but decided to tell him and Rei the news.

"Spectra ran into Wu's own warriors – they took both the map and the Scythe back." It was at that point he smiled evilly, a glint in his eyes as he continued. "But that doesn't matter in the slightest."

"Huh?" All three quizzingly said, the glint of the dragon showing in their eyes as they suddenly turned to their father. Amanojaku at this point shook off the daze from hitting a wall that wasn't there.

"Ohhhh, letting _them_ do the work for you, boss?" the mouse-like demon asked, a grin only a mother could love taking up most of his face. Garmadon smiled cruelly at the tiny oni's own.

"Yes… let Wu's _own_ pet project get the rest of the Weapons. I'll be out soon _enough_."

* * *

A/N: Originally, the Dragon's text was in Runes of the Dragon, to make it harder to read through and understand - a bit of Painting the medium for myself, but The great FFN vetoed on the idea of wingdings of any kind, which makes me sad...


End file.
